The Life and Works of John Napier

1009 Pages·2017·16.212 MB·English

by  Brian Rice, Enrique González-Velasco, Alexander Corrigan (auth.)

The Life
and Works
of John Napier
Brian Rice
Enrique González-Velasco
Alexander Corrigan
The Life and Works of John Napier
John Napier (1550–1617), inventor of logarithms and numerous other mathemati-
cal concepts and calculating devices, as detailed in this work. The portrait (by an
unknown artist) was donated to the University of Edinburgh by Margaret, Baroness
Napier(d.1706)inthelateseventeenthcenturyandsubsequentlypassedtotheScot-
tishNationalPortraitGalleryatanunknowndatebeforereturningtotheUniversityin
×
1983. Oiloncanvas,43½” 38”. (CourtesyoftheUniversityofEdinburgh.)
Brian Rice • Enrique González-Velasco
Alexander Corrigan

The Life and Works
of John Napier
Brian Rice Enrique González-Velasco
Horsham Department of Mathematical Sciences
West Sussex, United Kingdom University of Massachusetts at Lowell
Lowell, Massachusetts, USA
Alexander Corrigan
School of Divinity
The University of Edinburgh
New College, Mound Place
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
ISBN 978-3-319-53281-3 ISBN978-3-319-53 282-0 (eB ook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-53282-0

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017931974

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part
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The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
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The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
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Cover illustration courtesy of Lord Napier and Ettrick

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CONTENTS
Foreword ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgements xv
ANoteonOrthography xvii
1. JohnNapier 1
2. RevealingthePlaineDiscovery 61
3. APlaineDiscovery 97
4. MathematicalIntroduction 391
5. Descriptio 475
6. Rabdologiæ 649
7. Constructio 751
8. DeArteLogistica 809
9. Appendices 943
10. FurtherReading 975
11. BibliographyofNapier’sWorks 981
v
ILLUSTRATIONS
JohnNapier(UniversityofEdinburgh) Frontispiece
JohnNapier(LordNapierandEttrick) 2
ManuscriptmapofEdinburghandenvirons,1682 6
ElizabethNapier,ne´eStirling 13
FastCastle 23
ViewofEdinburghbyHollar,1641 24
MerchistonTower,c.1775 28
MerchistonTower,1790 34
MerchistonTower,c.1850 39
FrontispieceofRudolphineTables,1627 42
MapofGartness,1898 52
MerchistonTowerinthe15thand18thcenturies 56
PlansofMerchistonTower 57
TitlepageofAPlaineDiscovery,1593 62
TitlepageofAPlaineDiscovery,1611 98
JohnNapier(ScottishNationalPortraitGallery) 392
TheMadridPromptuary(17thcentury) 470
TitlepageofDescriptio,1614 477
TitlepageofDescriptio,1616 478
TitlepageofRabdologiæ,1617 651
TitlepageofConstructio,1619 753
TitlepageofDeArteLogistica,1834 811
JohnNapier(engraving) 944
Napier’sagreementtosearchfortreasureatFastCastle 950
Napier’smanuscriptSecrettInventionis 953
vii
THELIFEANDWORKSOFJOHNNAPIER
MerchistonTowerpriortorestoration,1957 968
MerchistonTowerafterrestoration,1964 969
MarkNapier,1867 974
MemorialtoJohnNapierinStCuthbert’s,Edinburgh 980
viii
I
REMEMBER as a child seeing the portrait of my remarkable ancestor
(ormygreat—tothepowerof12—grandfather),theScottishtheologian
andmathematicianJohnNapier,hanginginmyparents’home.Italways
fascinatedme,andmylatefatherfrequentlytoldmethathewasaveryclever
manandthatImuststudymymathsreallywell!
Tothevastmajorityofpeopleitseemsincrediblethatsomeonecouldfind
a way to simplify multiplication and division, mathematical functions that
seem so fundamental that they could not possibly be simplified any further.
YetthisisexactlywhathedidwithhisinventionofLogarithms,tothebenefit
of all those involved in the complex computations required for astronomy,
navigation, andengineeringetc.
Hedevelopedaningeniousbutsimplemethodofmultiplyinganddividing
usingsmallrods,commonlycalled“Napier’sbones”,whichremainedpopular
throughout the 17th century and beyond. He also invented numerous other
devicesforsimplifyingarithmeticalcalculations,inparticularhisPromptuary,
thoughnoneofthemeverbecamepopular, probablyduetotheverysuccess
ofhisownlogarithms,whichrenderedthemunnecessary. Nowadays,modern
technologymeanswetakesuchcalculationsforgranted.
Napierwasalsoknownforhisstrongreligiousviews. Manystorieshave
beentoldabouthimandsomelocalseventhoughthewasinleaguewiththe
Devil. However,LogarithmsareundoubtedlyNapier’sgreatestlegacy.
ix
THELIFEANDWORKSOFJOHNNAPIER
Napier was a truly remarkable person and his work was highly valued
bymanyillustriousastronomersandmathematiciansofhisgeneration. Iam
privilegedtoknowthatIamrelatedtothisgreatman,whowillforeverhavea
placeofhonouralongsidethegreatestandmostfamousnamesinthehistory
ofscience.
Iamdelightedthatthethreeauthorsofthissplendidbookhavebroughtall
of Napier’s publications together for the first time, some 400 years after his
death. ThegreateraccessibilitythisprovidestoNapier’sworkscanonlyhelp
toenhancehisfame.
NAPIERandETTRICK
December2016
x